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Allegations Against Staff

All organisations providing services to children and young people must ensure that their staff and volunteers (paid, unpaid, casual, agency and self-employed workers) are safe to do so.

The vast majority of adults who work with children/young people act professionally and aim to provide a safe and supportive environment for the children and young people they work with. However, there are adults who will deliberately seek out, create or exploit opportunities to abuse children.

The Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) in Children and Young People's Services should be alerted to all cases in which it is alleged that a person who works with children has:

Behaved in a way that has harmed a child, or may have harmed a child;

Possibly committed a criminal offence against or related to a child;

behaved towards a child or children in a way that indicates he or she would pose a risk of harm if they work regularly or closely with children.

This applies to allegations both in and outside the work place.

The LADO is involved from the initial phase of the allegation through to the conclusion of the case. They will provide advice, guidance and help to determine whether the allegation sits within the scope of the procedures. The LADO helps co-ordinate information-sharing with the right people and will also monitor and track any investigation, with the aim to resolve it as quickly as possible.

Referral form

Any incident where a child or young person or any other person has grounds to believe that a member of staff has crossed the boundary of acceptable behaviour and may have caused harm to a child or young person should be reported.